From – Shatter

By: Mariah Thomas

Season three picks back up with Tabitha (Catalina Sandino Moreno) waking up in the hospital and realizing the density of the situation. She is safe, while her family still faces the monsters. She also has to tackle the mystery of why she was chosen to be on the outside and how she can help. On the flip side, her family and the others have no idea what happened to her. They have no way to communicate and know she’s okay and can try to help from the outside. Knowing she has so much to do and not knowing where to start, she sneaks out of the hospital. Once walking, she sees the young boy from the tower that pushed her and proceeds to chase him down. When she catches up, it is revealed to be another boy but she is led in the right direction. Tabitha is able to make a phone call to her mother to let her know she, Jim (Eion Bailey) and the kids are okay. Her mother is frantic and begs her to come home and let her help. To her, her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren have been missing.

Tabitha goes to a church confessional saying, “I didn’t come here to talk about God.” She has faced so much tragedy and seen so many terrible things that go against everything she learned in church. She seeks out a place that has given her comfort in the past. She confides in the priest, who shockingly hears her out. He doesn’t judge her; he sees a woman in pain.  He asks her about the lunchbox, and she tells him about Victor (Scott McCord). When she opens it, at the bottom is a sticker with Victor’s address. An older man is at the house and seems so on edge and angry. The second he sees the lunchbox; he recognizes it and demands to know where she got it. This brought forth a revelation: is this the same town? Are the others trapped in a time loop of sorts in the town Tabitha is currently searching for answers in? Early on in the show, we learn Victor has been trapped the longest and this was his hometown. If this is the case, the address leading Tabitha to his father is proof of this.

Back in the town, the aftermath of that whirlwind finale brings out much angst and truth. Jim is distraught with Tabitha not returning from the forest. He intends to go into the woods himself to look for her. Boyd (Harold Perrineau) tries to talk him out of it. “My son just tried to run away so he could go look for her, my daughter refuses to talk about what happened to her. My kids need their mom. What am I supposed to do?” Boyd gives Jim all advice he can; given he himself has ventured into the woods. Not wanting Jim to go alone, Kenny (Ricky He) offers to go with him.

In the colony house, Fatima (Pegah Ghafoori) is dealing with morning sickness – a cruel reminder of the reality of being pregnant in this trapped world.

With winter taking full force, Donna (Elizabeth Saunders) wants to dig up the remaining crop before it can freeze.  Unfortunately, they discover all of the crop is rotten. “Everything that survived the storm is rotten, we have no food,” is what Donna relays to Boyd. This awakens the monster within everyone. Those from the colony house race over to Tian Chen’s (Elizabeth Moy) house. Given she is in charge of food supply in the town, the remaining food is stored in her basement. She tries to plead with everyone to calm down, but they storm in. A few try to kill the few animals in the barn for meat. However, Boyd is quick to remind everyone that the animals are a resource as they provide milk and eggs.

Kenny’s mother, Tian Chen, fears for him as he ventures out into the woods with Jim. She doesn’t want to lose him as they have already lost his father and her husband. She fears for her son’s life not knowing the travesty to come. When the sun sets and the monsters come out, Boyd notices the barn animals have gotten out. We are shown that the animals were let out by the monsters to lure them outside. Seeing as this is their only source of food at the moment, he risks going outside to herd the animals back to the barn. A few others help him in this task as the monsters are now aware of many of the town’s people being out. Smaller animals are guided into a building in town since it is closer and gets more people out of the danger lurking nearby. Boyd is determined to get the cow back to the barn as it cannot fit anywhere else. Tian Chen continues to help him in this despite Boyd’s pleas to her to return to safety. She has always been such a giving and caring character in this series. Time after time she has lent so much time and many resources to everyone. Once in the barn with monsters outside, it is quickly revealed that Tian Chen and Boyd are locked inside with a few who managed to sneak in and hide earlier. Compared to previous seasons, the monsters seem to have more awareness. There is a taunting energy to them that wasn’t previously. With Boyd’s trip into the forest last season and what he uncovered; it is clear there has been a shift. Before, the intent was to harm and feast on any human they could. Now it is pointed and more of a game to them. The monsters grab Tian Chen, and Boyd bargains with his own life to spare hers. One of the monsters is amused by this and tells Boyd, “You think this place can’t break you? Let’s see.” Tian Chen is sadly killed, and Boyd is left to bear witness to their carnivorous ways. By seeing some truths to the darkness that resides in this town, he was warned of the harm it would bring. The storm took out their crops, tension has been injected into every single person as they fight to survive, and the sweetest woman in the town is killed. Tian Chen’s death is malicious and intended to make Boyd suffer as he can do nothing but watch since he is chained up. They torturously hurt her while keeping her alive.